Waste chute



E. R. LEONARD.

WASTE CHUTE.

APPLICATION FILED FEB-1. I922.

Patented Nov. 21, 1922 INVENTOR fio nmaaal BY ATTORNEY Patented Nov. 231, 1922.

ii SE5 ELOF R. LEONARD, OF MOUNTAIN LAKES, NEW JERSEY.

WASTE OHUTE.

Application filed February .1, 1922.

T0 aZZwhom it may concern:

Beit known that L'ELor R. LEONARD, a citizen of the United States, residing at Mountain Lakes, Morris County, New Jersey, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Waste Chutes, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to that class of waste chutes which are intended for use in manufacturing and commercial establishments where waste paper and packing material and the waste products of manufacture and the like accumulate so as to require some simple and eflicient means for their convenient and safe removal. For such purposes chutes of fire proof material are extended from one floor to another of the building, being provided with suitable intake openings at various intake points through which the waste material may be injected, to fall down to the bottom of the chute. And my improvements are directed particularly to means for closing and opening such intake openings, so as to guard against the danger of back draughts, fire in the chute, and the like, without obstructing the main channel of the chute.

Details of my improvements I will now proceed to point out and explain, referring in so doing to the accompanying drawings in which Fig. 1 is a front elevation of a portion of a chute showing the outer door, the counterbalancing means being shown in broken lines; Fig. 2 is a vertical sectional view of the same taken as on the line 22 of Fig. 1 looking to the left, the chute being prolonged vertically further than in Fig. 1; and Fig. 8 is a cross sectional view taken on the line 33 of Fig. 2 looking down.

Similar reference numerals designate similar parts in all the figures.

A lire proof chute 1 made, for instance, of sheet metal is, preferably, built into a wall 2, and extended down through. the

building, being provided with suitable clear-' ing means, (not shown), at its lower portion, in a well-known manner.

In the front of the chute, and preferably near the level of a floor 4:, I form an intake opening 5 which is covered by a cowl or hopper embodying an inwardly sloping bottom 6, sides 77 and an outwardly sloping top 8.

up and down thereon.

Serial No. 533,203.

, I prefer to form this hopper of sheet metal and to provide the sides with flanges 9-9; and also to provide the lower edge of the puttygrdly sloping top 8 with an upturned P Adjacent to and extending above the opening 5 I form on each side a guide 11, preferably of the material of the sides 7-7, so that channels 1212 are formed between the guides and the sides of the chute adjacent to the opening 5. In these channels 12 12 is placed a vertically sliding door 13 which will completely close the opening 5 when lowered. I

On the front of the hopper I mount another sliding door 1d which is provided with inturned edges 1515 adapted to slidably engage around the flanges 99 on the sides of the hopper so that the door may be slid This door is also preferably provided with an inwardly and downwardly turned upper edge 16. which is adapted to enter behind the upturned lip 10 on the portion 8 of the hopper when the door is lowered so as to make a snug oint therewith.

The bottomof the door 14L is provided with suitable means, for instance a grooved lange 17, for engaging with the upperedge 18 of the bottom 6 when the door ltis lowcred, as shown in the figures.

, Near the top of the hopper casing I mount a pulley wheel 19 over which travels a chain 20, one end of which is connected through a suitable, fusible link 21, with the door 14, while the other end is similarly connected through another fusible link 22 with the door 13; the chain being of such a length and so adjusted that when the door 14: is pulled down, as shown in the figures, the door13- will be raised to uncover the openingb and when the door 14 is slid up, so as to uncover the opening in the front of the hopper, the door 13 will be lowered so as to cover the opening 5.

When it is desired to pass material into the chute, the outer door is raised, and the inner door simultaneously closes, cutting off any backdraught up the chute and preventing annoyance by dust and the like which might be caused if waste material was passing down the chute from a higher point.

The material to be disposed of is then placed off by either the inner or the outer door, and

this will be accomplished without in any way obstructing the main channel of the chute so as to interfere with its use from points higher up in it.

Owing to the inflammable nature of the material which is ordinarily passed down such chutes, and the possibility of fire originating in'the material and flaring up the chute, it is highly important to provide extrameans for confining any such blaze within the chute and preventing its escape through the hopper into the building. This end is gained by the use of fusible links in the chain 20, one preferably near the bottom of the door 13 and another near the bottom of the door 14:, which are points so situated that flames coming up the chute would quickly reach them. The melting of either of these fusible links will release both doors, allowing whichever of them is lifted, or both of them if partially raised, to slide down of their own weight and thus close both the opening into the hopper and the' opening into the chute, interposing in this way a double barrier between any fire in the chute and the portion of the building adjacent to the exterior of the hopper.

For convenience in assembling, I prefer to provide the main portion of the chute 1 with a pair of flanges 23, 23, which may be united thereto and which will form between them and the outer face of the chute 1 grooves into which the side flanges 2st, 24 of the hoppermay be slid, thus permitting of setting up the vertical chute first and then readily attaching the hopper thereto without the inconvenience of riveting the hopper to the chute.

I have illustrated the use of a chain provided with fusible links as a means for counterbalancing the doors, but it will be readily understood that other means which would be destroyed or released by the heat of the fire in the chute so as to allow the doors to fall, would be within the scope of my invention, as would also be other modifications, by the use of mechanical equivalents or the like, such as would suggest themselves to one skilled in the art.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States is 1. The combination, with a waste chute, of an outwardly extended hopper, a slidable door for closing the intake opening into the hopper, slidable door for closing the outlet from the hopper into the chute, and means connecting the two doors so that the the outlet from the hopper into the chute,

and means consisting of a flexible, counterbalancing element connecting the two doors so that the movement of the outer door in one direction will produce a reverse movement of the inner door.

3. The combination, with a waste chute, of an outwardly extended hopper, a slidable door for closing the intake opening into the hopper, a slidable door for closing the outlet from the hopper into the chute, and means consisting of a flexible, counterbalancing element, provided with portions fusible at a comparatively low temperature, connecting the two doors so that the movement of the outer door in one direction will produce a reverse movement of the inner door.

4. The combination, with a waste chute of an outwardly extended hopper, a verti cally slidable door for closing the intake opening into the hopper, a vertically slidable door for closing the outlet from the hopper into the chute, and means connecting the two doors so that the movement of the outer door in one direction will produce a reverse movement of the inner door.

5. The combination, with a waste chute, of an outwardly extended hopper, a slidable door for closing the intake opening into the hopper, a slidable door for closing the outlet from the hopper into the chute, and counterbalancing means connecting the two doors so that the movement of the outer door in one direction will produce a reverse movement of the inner door.

6. The combination, with awaste chute, of an outwardly extended hopper, an outer door for the hopper, an inner door for the hopper vertically movable in a straight line in its own plane, and means for causing the movement of the outer door to open the inner door.

7. The combination, with a waste chute, of an outwardly extended hopper, an outer door for the hopper, an inner door for the hopper limited in its movement to space outside of and parallel to the chute, and means for causing the movement of the outer door to produce a reverse movement of the inner door.

8. The combination, with a waste chute, of an outwardly extended hopper, an outer door for the hopper, an inner door for the hopper limited in its movement to space outside of the chute, and means, embodying an element fusible at a comparatively low temperature, for causing the movement of I the outer door to produce a reverse moveadapted to be slipped said grooves. i

10. The combination, with a waste chute provided with an intake opening and with hopper engaging means, of a hopper pro- Vided with means for slidably engaging with said hopper engaging means.

ELOF R. LEONARD.

Within and held by 

